The Trouble With Being King
by rubberglue
Summary: Arthur doesn't ask for much: just a competent manservant and some time with his girlfriend. So why is that so difficult? (Set between S3 and S4)


AN: It's Valentine's Day so have an old fic I wrote. It's one of my favourite fics that I've written. Set after S3.

* * *

"Oof. Hello?"

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Prince Arthur's trusted manservant."

"Nope, not him. That poor guy is probably back in Camelot being bullied by the Prince. Urg. Have you tied me up?"

"I think your clothes give you away. This is most delightful - finally to have a hold over Prince Arthur."

"I hardly think Prince Arthur is going to be bothered about me."

"Oh? I'm no fool. Isn't this the prince who decided commoners can be knights? The prince who is having a very public romance with a commoner? This prince cares too much about his people."

* * *

The trouble with being on the verge of defeat and then triumphing over it all is that it tends to leave you on a high for a while after the victory. And the trouble with Arthur being on a high was that he often did, well, not silly things, but things he wouldn't usually do if he had thought about them a little more.

For example, basking in the warmth of victory, he generously granted Merlin a week's leave. He realised that was a horrible idea when Merlin's substitute, Roy, managed to complete all his tasks competently and without complaint. There was just something uncomfortable about waking up in the morning to a hearty, warm breakfast and appropriate clothes laid out on his bed. Roy even ensured that Arthur went to bed on time - it was good for health said Roy. It was even worse when Roy refused to engage in any sort of banter with him no matter what Arthur said. Instead, Roy kept apologising and grovelling, which was fairly enjoyable initially but soon became rather annoying. If Merlin had not gone off to visit his mother, Arthur would probably have simply rescinded his leave.

The other not-so-well-thought-of decision he made was to kiss Guinevere in public in front of all his knights. The kissing was wonderful, as it always was. It was the aftermath that wasn't quite so enjoyable. Elyan fluctuated between being friendly and glaring at him whenever he was in viewing distance of Gwen. Lancelot became all broody and mopey (made worse, Arthur suspected, by the fact that Merlin was off prancing around Ealdor which again emphasised what a dumb decision it was to let Merlin go on leave. Never again, Arthur vowed.) while Gwaine seemed to see it as permission to flirt outrageously with Gwen (that Elyan seemed to have no problem with Gwaine's flirting just annoyed him further). And who knew what Percival was thinking anyway?

And so, as Arthur was wont to do, he stood next to his thinking window and thought deeply about his father, about his new role as regent, about the stubborn and unyielding council and, of course, about Gwen.

"There are too many things to worry about," he grumbled as he watched the going-ons in the upper town from his window.

"With your greatness Sire, I am sure you will handle everything well."

Not for the first time Arthur wondered what would happen if he threw a mug at Roy. He would probably praise his aim, Arthur suspected. With a long suffering sigh, he dismissed Roy. That morning, he had just been to visit his father who not only did not recognise him but also thought him to be a travelling salesman. It wasn't easy to have a conversation with someone who was convinced you ought to be taxed heavily. Gauis had told him it was best to play along with whatever delusions Uther had. It wasn't so bad when Uther believed Arthur was a knight or even a servant. But when Uther woke up one day and convinced himself that Arthur was a druid, things got pretty tense to say the least.

Still life went on. And while Arthur really wished to spend some more time with Gwen, ruling over Camelot, even just as regent, took up way too much of his time. Gwen had gotten herself heavily involved in the rebuilding of Camelot, especially the lower towns, and between their responsibilities, it was a wonder he even got to see her at all.

After yet another trying council meeting, Arthur paced in the castle hallways. Firstly, he was avoiding Roy who had taken it in his head that Arthur needed encouragement and provided it by constantly extolling his virtues. Secondly, he had a vague hope of catching hold of Gwen. Now, she was someone he wanted extolling his virtues, preferably while administering some kisses at the same time. It must have been his lucky day. In the distance, he spied Gwen walking hurriedly towards him. Her eyes were on the floor and she hadn't noticed him yet.

Brilliant.

Hiding himself behind a pillar, he waited quietly, as if in hunt for prey. He heard her shoes scuff against the floor and braced himself.

_One._

_Two._

He pounced, grabbing Gwen by her arm and tugging her behind the pillar with him. Unfortunately, the basket of cloth in her hands tumbled to the floor.

"What are you doing Arthur? Now I have to fold all this again!" She looked far from pleased to see him, quite the opposite reaction he'd imagined.

"Right," he looked confusedly at the pile of cloth lying on the stone floor. Why was there so much cloth and what were they used for? "I just thought we could, well, have a moment's privacy together," Arthur grinned at Gwen.

For a moment it looked like Gwen was about to snap at him so he did what he thought was best. He kissed her. After all, she could hardly snap at him if her mouth was otherwise engaged. As expected, Gwen refused to respond to the kiss at first but eventually she relented and her lips softened and allowed Arthur to slip his tongue in. Her arms curled around his waist and he pressed himself as close to her as possible. He missed this - the scent of her enveloping him, her warmth and the feel of her under him.

Someone's throat cleared.

Arthur ignored it. Kissing Gwen was the closest he was going to get to heaven and he wasn't going to stop just because some of his knights were prudes.

Someone coughed. Loudly.

Gwen pulled away, much to Arthur's chagrin.

"What the … oh hi, Elyan." Funny how fast someone could fall from heaven into hell. Gwen was busy collecting the cloth from the ground, conveniently leaving him to deal with her brother. "Shouldn't you be out training?"

"That was over an hour ago. You were there remember?"

"Ah yes." Arthur glanced at Gwen, hoping she would rescue him from this awkward situation but it seemed she was still picking up cloth and apparently it required great concentration. This was ridiculous at any rate. He was the crown prince. Why was he so nervous about Elyan, someone with whom he had shared life-threatening adventures? Probably because Elyan had proven to be quite handy with a sword, and an axe and well, basically anything he could get his hands on. Arthur didn't really want to fall at the hands of someone wielding cloth. Also, if he did defeat Elyan, he suspected his chances with Gwen might fall significantly.

"Perhaps Sire," Elyan took a deep breath and stared into Arthur's eyes, "we ought to have a talk. If you don't mind."

Finally Gwen stood up and grabbed Elyan's arm. "Stop it Elyan! I'm not a child. Let's go." With a quick nod of her head and a slight smile, she was gone, dragging Elyan with her. The good thing was he yet again managed to avoid the whole big brother talk with Elyan. He had it with Merlin before and to put it simply, it was possibly the most awkward 2 minutes of his life. The not-so-good thing was once again his alone time with Gwen was cut short.

Clearly he needed a plan.

If Arthur thought Merlin was useless at plotting and planning (and he did), Roy managed to be even more useless. Mainly because he couldn't wrap his head around the idea that Arthur couldn't just command Gwen to spend time with him.

"But you're the crown prince, Sire and she's just a servant."

"Can you stop bringing that up? Look, let's just imagine I'm a normal but very busy man and I just want to …"

"But, you're the crown prince, Sire!"

"You know what? It's time for the stalls to be mucked out. Off you go!"

Council meetings. Father visiting. Training. Thinking. Arthur's life took on a somewhat depressing rhythm.

And so, determined to end his day on a positive note, he had Roy inform Gwen to be at the local tavern this evening and he was looking forward to having a nice drink with her away from the pressures of court. Of course, in order for that to happen, he would need to be in disguise, which was why he was pulling on the light blue cloak - the one that covered his face quite well.

He was feeling quite buoyant after managing to make his way through the town without anyone noticing who he was. He even managed to avoid Roy with a minimum of fuss. Now only a door separated him and Gwen. Taking in a huge breath, Arthur pushed the door open. Noise and the smell of alcohol buffeted him as soon as the door opened. For a moment he worried that this was probably not the best place for a romantic rendezvous with Gwen. Then he noticed her sitting at a table by the side and he forgot whatever he was thinking of. Just looking at her from afar, he felt all the day's frustrations and annoyances slide off his shoulders.

"Ahem," he pushed his way towards Gwen, "Hi."

When she looked into his eyes and grinned, he felt quite pleased with himself. This was going to be great. Yelling at the barkeep for two tankards of mead, he reached a hand out to grab Gwen's. Maybe it was the environment but she seemed a lot more relaxed.

"This is interesting. Have you been here before?"

"Not like this. I haven't seen you in a while."

"You saw me just this morning when I delivered your breakfast," Gwen laughed, her eyes twinkling at him.

He pouted as he leaned back in his chair, "you know that's not what I meant! But this is good. We should do this more often. I'm Arthur and you're Gwen and we're just two ordinary people who are in love."

This made Gwen laugh even more and he felt very satisfied with himself. He was quite the strategist really.

All good things had to come to an end eventually. Gwen was in the middle of telling him about her day in the lower town when a shadow fell over their table. Annoyed Arthur looked up scowling, ready to berate whoever it was who thought he could interrupt the Prince of Camelot.

"Guinevere, fancy seeing you here," the voice drawled, "is this man bothering you?"

Great. It was Gwaine. He should have known the tavern was Gwaine's second home.

Keen to avoid drawing attention to their table, Arthur whispered, "She's fine. It's me. Would you go away?"

"I'm sorry? I can't hear you!"

"It's Arthur. Now go away!" Arthur glanced at Gwen who was trying to stifle her laughter, which only served to annoy him more.

"I'm fine, Gwaine." Finally she piped up. Perhaps now Gwaine would leave them be.

"Now, now. We can't have you spending time with random, hooded strangers can we? Why, his royal highness might get very upset. At the very least, I should join you." With that, Gwaine dragged a stool over to the table and sat himself down.

"Gwaine, come on," Gwen said, a thread of amusement in her voice.

As if to annoy him further, Gwaine grabbed his tankard and swallowed deeply. "That's the problem with being as gorgeous as you are Gwen. All sorts of men try to flirt with you. Frankly, I think the hooded ones are the most dangerous."

Luckily for Gwaine, some part of Arthur's brain warned him that tearing off his cloak and causing a scene in the tavern would not endear him to a public who were already unsure of his leadership qualities. Instead, he tossed a few gold coins onto the table and stalked out of the tavern.

Grumbling to himself, Arthur made his way back to the castle.

"Arthur! Arthur stop! I'm sorry Gwaine was such a …"

Stopping, he turned to face Gwen, her face flushed from running. "Such a pain? I swear if I didn't like him so much I would do … do something bad to him!"

"Well," Gwen murmured as she pulled him closer to the stone wall of a house, "we're alone now. I know we haven't had much time together."

It was amazing how having Gwen pressed against him did wonders for his mood. Dipping his head, he settled his lips against hers, teasing her with his tongue. Her moans only encouraged him to pull her closer so he could explore her body with his hands.

Of course it was at this point that light was shone onto them. After all, it seemed like the fates were determined to keep them apart.

"Sire, I'm sorry. I did not realise you were with Gwen"

"Leon. Percival. What are you doing here?" Arthur tried very hard not to raise his voice.

"Your servant sent us to find you. He said it was time for bed and he was concerned …"

"I'm sorry. Do you take orders from my servant now?"

"Well sometimes we do what Merlin says …"

"That's different. Merlin is … right, never mind. Why don't the two of you escort Gwen back to her home?" There really was no point trying again tonight. With his luck, Lancelot would turn up next and he really didn't want to imagine what would happen then.

Gwen reached out for him and he brushed a kiss across her cheek. "I'm sorry," she whispered before leaving with the two knights. Arthur rubbed his face and made his way back, alone, to the castle.

Sulking in his room wasn't much fun without Merlin, Arthur concluded. Roy was incredibly annoying in trying to cheer him up. And he was still sore about the whole debacle of a night. It was beyond him why it was so difficult for him to spend some private time with Gwen. With that troubling thought in mind, Arthur fell into a fitful sleep.

Three days later and all he managed were two quick kisses and several brief meetings with Gwen, which really weren't quite enough. The council was still being a pain. His father was still mad, having tossed him out of the room today because he was obviously Cenred. Add to that the rebuilding of the towns and the effort he had to make to ensure his new, commoner knights were accepted by his surviving noble knights and he supposed it was no wonder that he was exhausted, constantly annoyed and missing Gwen. If he was really honest, he missed Merlin as well but that was information he was never going to share with anyone, least of all Merlin.

He supposed it wasn't surprising that it was Gwen who came up with a plan in the end. As it turned out, it was Merlin's mother's birthday the upcoming weekend and Gwen, being the perfect being she was, had sewn a blanket for her at Merlin's request. He had to admit he was a little flummoxed by the fact she had decorated the blanket with tiny, little dragons. Who in the right mind liked dragons? He tried to point that out to her but she snatched the blanket out of his hands and muttered something about his lack of artistic vision.

She had approached him to ask for leave to visit Merlin and Hunith in Ealdor. Not only did he give her his blessings to ride to Ealdor, he decided that he would be her one-man escort (well, two men actually but Roy didn't really count). Camelot could survive without him for a weekend. The council would probably be rejoicing. Plus it would be a great opportunity to drag Merlin back to Camelot.

Arthur was in such a good mood that even Roy fussing over the right beddings to bring the morning of the trip merely elicited a smile from him.

It was with a light heart that he and Gwen (and Roy) started their journey to the Ealdor.

* * *

"So, umm, what exactly is your plan?"

"There's a magical egg in Camelot's dungeons. We want that egg."

"Really? I never knew that, being a lowly servant and all. What does it do? Are you warlocks or something?"

"It's rumoured to be the egg of … wait a minute, I'm not telling you anything."

"Well, you do realise Camelot was attacked just a few months ago. I wouldn't be surprised if the egg was destroyed during battle. Frankly, it'll be a waste of time."

"Ha! You cannot fool me! Now move, we're still some way away from Camelot."

* * *

As the horses cantered towards Ealdor, Arthur started to feel lighter. Sometimes, he hated the pressures and responsibilities of being who he was. Like he'd told Gwen before, he had occasionally pondered what it would like to be a simple farmer. Admittedly, he knew almost nothing of farming which was why he would need to convince Merlin to go with him. There was something about Merlin that suggested he would be a good farmer.

They made camp in the evening. Sensing a chance to finally be alone with Gwen, Arthur sent Roy off to collect firewood. He waved Roy off, telling him to take his time. Happily, he settled himself down next to Gwen. She was perfect in her travelling gear. He tugged her closer and brought his lips to her neck, kissing and nibbling. A shudder went through her and she pressed herself against him while her hands slipped under his shirt. Her fingers drew slow circles on his bare skin and it took all his control to stop himself from simply rolling her under him. Instead, he traced her collar line and lifted his mouth to hers.

"You said you wanted to talk. I see you had other motives," Gwen murmured against his lips.

"Is that a problem?" His hands moved slowly up her hips. She laughed in response and brought her hands to his nipples, feeling them harden under her palms. Despite the hard ground and the twigs poking into his side, Arthur felt happier than he ever felt in the last few months. Here he was, free from the aggravating council, free from the weight of his father's illness, holding the woman he adored in his arms. What could be better than that?

The sound was faint at first. The pounding of his heart, he thought. But as it got louder and louder, Arthur pulled away from Gwen reluctantly. It seemed that even in the middle of nowhere, he and Gwen were not meant to be. He wondered where Roy was. Please don't let him have been attacked or worse. The last thing he needed was a dead, temporary manservant. The council would see it as yet another example of his incompetence or "youthful foolishness" as they termed it.

As the sound approached, Arthur realised with resignation that it was the unmistakable sound of people walking towards them. He jumped up, his hand curling around his sword, ready for battle. Hopefully it was just some people passing through and not a group of bandits that he'd have to deal with. Gesturing to Gwen, they hunkered down behind some fallen logs and waited.

The footsteps drew closer and voices could be heard.

Most curiously, a very familiar voice could be heard.

"So about this magical egg …"

"Why are you so interested?"

"Well, if you know Arthur like I do, then you'd know he has no clue what is in those dungeons. If you tell me more about the egg, I could probably find it for you."

Arthur's heart sank. That voice belonged to Merlin. From the corner of his eye, he could see Gwen's shocked expression. On one hand, he was incredibly relieved that Merlin seemed well. On the other, it was just like Merlin get himself kidnapped and interrupt his time with Gwen. Thankfully, it appeared that were only three of them. He figured he could take them on easily.

"I'm going to jump out and distract them. You grab Merlin."

With those words, Arthur lept from the logs, sword swinging. He quickly shoved one of the men to the ground and grabbed the one he thought was the leader. As instructed, Gwen seized hold of Merlin and dragged him far from where Arthur was.

"Gwen! Arthur! Have you come to rescue me?"

Relieved that both Gwen and Merlin were far from danger, Arthur focused on the three men in front of him. They didn't seem too confident. Not surprisingly since Arthur had managed to disarm their leader and held him at sword point.

"I will kill him if you don't drop your swords."

The one of the right immediately let his sword drop to the ground. The one on the left was less willing to give up. Lifting his arm up and pointing his sword at Arthur, he began to mutter.

Magic.

Damn.

Then the strangest thing happened. Somehow the magic user got blown off his feet, smashed into a tree and slid limply to the ground. His arm still tightly gripping the leader, he looked around trying to gauge if there were yet more enemies. He hoped not. This was supposed to be a break and so far, it wasn't looking particularly restful.

"Merlin! Stop cowering and get me some ropes!"

Quickly securing the three men, Arthur stood watching as Gwen fussed over Merlin. He didn't understand the need seeing that Merlin looked none the worse for wear really.

"What did they want with you?"

"I'm not sure. Something about a magical egg in Camelot," Merlin shrugged, "Thanks though. I'm not sure how you knew I'd be here."

"We didn't."

"Must have been fate," Gwen offered, "We were about to visit you and your mom in Ealdor. I have a present for her birthday."

"Did you even try to escape?" growled Arthur, still annoyed that Merlin had managed to put himself in danger.

"Not really. I mean, they said they were going to bring me to Camelot, which was where I was heading anyway. So I thought why not?"

"Why not?!"

Gwen placed her hand on his arm and gave him a pointed look - one which probably said Merlin's been through enough, don't yell at him.

"Let's rest. We'll head to Ealdor in the morning," Arthur snapped as he lowered himself onto the hard ground.

"Arthur?" He turned to face Gwen who was much too far from him now. "Where is Roy?"

Roy. He had forgotten all about Roy.

Groaning, he stood up and grabbed his sword. Really, all these servants were more trouble than they were worth.

The next day, after he had found Roy lost and confused in the woods, the four of them arrived at Ealdor. Thrilled to see them, Hunith had prepared a spread of food which Arthur tried his best to finish. But the best present Hunith gave him was when she chased both Arthur and Gwen out of her house and told them to take a walk while she spent time with Merlin.

"I'm sorry Arthur," Gwen smiled slightly as they walked along the edges of the town, hand in hand, "I know you were hoping we could spend some time together, alone."

"Sometimes I wish I was really just a farmer," Arthur sighed, " I'm just sorry that being regent means I can't give you the attention and the time you should get. It's not going to get any better."

"No, it's not. You have a lot of responsibilities."

Arthur wrapped an arm around Gwen and pressed a kiss in her hair. "I do. Are you alright with this? With only snippets of time for each other?"

"You know the answer, Arthur."

Then she cupped his face and brushed her lips against his. They smiled at each other before deepening the kiss.

And for that brief moment, it was just them. No distrustful council. No bumbling manservants. No nosy knights. No mad kings.

Just the two of them.


End file.
